Education
The Australian Government is investing in the
education, skills and training of our young people
to boost the productivity and prosperity of our
nation for future generations.
The Nation Building — Economic Stimulus Plan
includes $16.2. billion over three years for the
Building the Education Revolution program, which
will fund the building and rebuilding of primary and
secondary school infrastructure and maintenance in
Australia’s schools, including combined schools and
special schools. The program will also provide
funding to build around 500 new science laboratories
and language learning centres in secondary schools.
The Australian Government has also brought forward
$110 million of funding for the Trade Training
Centres in Schools Program, from 2010-11 to 2009-10.
This will provide additional support for the economy
now and also fast-track measures to improve the
skills base of the workforce.
Another $580 million will be spent under
Round 1 of the Government’s Education Investment
Fund (EIF). This funding will be put towards
supporting world-leading, strategically-focused
infrastructure investments that will transform
Australian tertiary education and research.
The Teaching and Learning Capital Fund (TLC) for
Higher Education (HE) is a one-off capital injection
of $500 million to eligible higher education
institutions across Australia to target new
infrastructure as well as the upgrading of existing
facilities.
The
TLC(HE) will revitalise universities by
developing teaching and learning spaces that are
physically and technologically appropriate for 21st
century approaches to tertiary education. Funding
will be distributed among universities through
grants taking into account each university's share
of total domestic students.
A further $2.6 billion and $511 million will go to
families and students to assist with the cost of
education in the 2009 academic year through the Back
to School Bonus and the Training and Learning Bonus
respectively. The Training and Learning Bonus will
also provide assistance with education costs for
eligible income support recipients wishing to return
to study.
Progress:
Since the beginning of the program in February there have been
substantial achievements delivered across all three key Building the
Education Revolution components.
Science and Language Centres for 21st Century Secondary Schools
(SLC)
The SLC element of the BER has been announced, with $821.8 million in funding approved for 537 secondary schools to build or refurbish science laboratories and language centres, providing state of the art facilities for our students and teachers.
Over 480 of the 537 construction projects have commenced.
National School Pride Program (NSP)
In total $1.27 billion in funding has been approved for 9,497
Australian schools to refurbish and renew existing infrastructure,
while providing immediate support for local jobs.
All funding under this program has been delivered, and the
commencement of more than 12,500 projects is already underway.
Around 2,500 projects have already been completed.
Primary Schools for the 21st Century (P21)
Over three rounds of funding, $13.85 billion has been approved
for 10,697 projects at 7,962 primary schools in every state and territory.
More than 9,500 construction projects are underway, with the first
100 projects already complete.
Building the Education Revolution program results lists to date:
Round One of the National School Pride Program
Round Two of the National School Pride Program
Round One of Primary Schools for the 21st Century
Round Two of Primary Schools for the 21st Century
Round Three of Primary Schools for the 21st Century
Science and Language Centres for 21st Century Secondary Schools
For further details about the Building the Education Revolution component of
the Nation Building – Economic Stimulus Plan visit the
Building the Education Revolution website.
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